RTÉ executes Sunday night exceptionally well, acting as the stage for popular shows like Dermot Bannon’s Room To Improve, a programme dedicated to property enthusiasts more than a typical TV show, and the recently concluded smash hit, Dancing With the Stars. RTÉ One’s 7:30pm slot on Sundays is regularly appointed to Brendan Courtney’s programme, Keys To My Life, a captivating mix of sentiment and joviality where famous faces revisit former residences rich in personal history.
This winning format continues as Courtney gets a warm welcome from Eilish O’Carroll, older sibling of Brendan O’Carroll, who’s renowned for her role in Mrs Brown’s Boys, a show that causes some to chuckle heartily while others see it as a comedic blunder. Eilish O’Carroll proves an enjoyable guest with Courtney at the helm, providing both a playful and compassionate presence.
Eilish’s lived an eventful life. Her mother, Maureen, was a ground-breaking Labour TD and was among the first female politicians to serve as a parliamentary chief whip across Europe. Together with Courtney, they tour their old familial abode in Finglas, Dublin, which was a newly-built suburb when they shifted there. An emotional O’Carroll remembers her father’s demise in his 50s and her mother’s mourning process.
“I used to hear her sob during the night,” she recollects. “She’d be crying in her bed and I’d be crying in my bed, out of pity.”
Her life was further marred by adversity. In her 20s, O’Carroll moved to the UK and settled in Reading, just outside London. Tragically, she found herself ensnared in a violent marriage. “It was a highly abusive relationship,” she discloses while revisiting her old UK residence with Courtney.
She vividly recalls the pain, describing it not as mental or emotional, but as a tangible, physical affliction. “It’s as though someone has landed a blow to my stomach,” she reminisces. “I was consumed by an all-consuming sadness at the time. There’s nothing that can alter that.”
Her life spun an unexpected narrative. After moving on and getting married again, O’Carroll found herself in love with another woman. “We were both conventionally straight women living conventional lives. Neither of us matched the image of what lesbians should look like. The primary struggle I faced was my conflicts with my Catholic conscience.”
Bewildered, she took herself back to Ireland, securing a home in the western part of Cork. In Cork City, she crossed paths with Marian O’Sullivan, her partner, and returned to Dublin. Her return coincided with her brother’s comic character Agnes Brown gaining popularity in the UK—initially on the stage, followed by the television.
Soon, she found herself working off-stage on Mrs Brown, eventually being promoted to the role of Agnes’s closest friend, Winnie. This saw fame and wealth accompany her newfound career, providing the positive whirl her life deserved, and bringing a hopeful close to a poignant chapter in her life.
“My luck saw a shift. There was so much I managed to accomplish,” O’Carroll reflects on the significant impact Mrs Brown’s Boys had on her life. However, sadness creeps back into her voice as she shakes her head. “You never forget what was once out of your reach.”